Commander Koehl fic
by chloewren
Summary: I have been fascinated with Commander Lew Koehl since he was introduced, but so far, there isn't much info about him. I wanted him to get a love interest, so I invented one. Yikes, Koehl isn't even on the character choice list. That is just wrong. LOL


_Koehl fanfic-by Chloewren_

_I have this incredible thing for Lew Koehl, commander of team 16. Suz doesn't say much about him, so I had to elaborate. Koehl and Jaz are Suzanne's characters, but I wish I owned them._

_Please let me know if this story is worth finishing. Also, I have to think of a cool title._

Lew Koehl pressed the trigger on his rifle, watching with satisfaction as the rounds sped out of the barrel and into the moving target. Even the giant ear protectors he wore couldn't drown out the sub automatic blasts. He grinned as he finished the barrage of automatic fire and saw that every shot had hit a bullseye. He hadn't had time to actually practice for awhile. Lew sighed. As an officer, he had to be good at almost everything. He couldn't ask , or expect, his men to do something well when he wasn't good at it. Lew could live in the water. Like most SEALS, he thought of water not as an obstacle, but as a refuge. But they all had their weak areas. Lew's was running. It wasn' t that he wasn't in awesome cardiovascular condition, because he was. But Lew was 34, and had been a SEAL for nine years. The older he got, the more messed up his knees got. Not that he couldn't run- he could. He ran at least 8 miles a day through the wet sand of Coronado, sometimes 13 miles on training runs. But he didn't like it, and he certainly wasn't the fastest man on the teams. Not the slowest- but definitely not the fastest.

He grinned at his XO, Jazz Jaquette, and took off his ear protection so he could hear what the XO was saying. Lew hated wearing the hearing protection. Hell, SEALS didn't ever wear them. They didn't have time in a battle situation to wear something as indulgent as hearing protection. What were they going to do in the field, say, ' Excuse me Mr. Terrorists, can you please wait a moment to commence firing? We have to put our ear muffs on to protect our tender ears?" But this was a civilian shooting range, albeit one where cops practiced. Hearing and eye protection was mandatory. Jazz chuckled, admiring the precision of Lew's shots. " Great job, sir," he said, as he packed up his gun.

He and Jazz left to go back to the team headquarters but Lew's attention was drawn to s a woman in the range across from him. He couldn't believe a novice like her was even at this range, where mostly law enforcement and military practiced. Even the smallest glance at the woman proved that she was neither. Lew looked up from putting away the guns to observe her. Lew paged through his mental Rolodex, trying to figure out who the hell she was and where he'd seen her.

She had been around the base a few times, acting as a civilian consultant for something or other. But he didn't know her name. He had admired her petite curvaceous form more than once. He might be an officer, but he was also a virile man, and no self respecting heterosexual guy could help but notice her. Although just a glimpse of her made Lew seriously hard, he'd never whistled or made any comments to her, or about her. He was old fashioned about women, and besides, he was the CO. He had to set an example for his men of how to treat women with respect. The enlisted men didn't always have manners when it came to women. He knew none of his men would ever hurt a woman or force their attentions on her. It was just that, well, SEALS spent a lot of time together in an all male environment and dangerous situations where bad language and crude comments were the norm. The guys were so used to that kind of talk amongst themselves that they often came on strong or forgot about their language in the presence of women. Izzy Zanella had made a crude comment a little too loudly in her presence, and Lew had given him a week of extra PT.

Lew seldom had time for more than sex with women, and there was definitely no shortage of women willing to share his bed for a night or two. He was a good lover, gentle, and an expert at giving women pleasure. He was a very considerate partner, always making sure the woman had at least one orgasm before he climaxed . But Lew didn't really get to know women, he never wanted anything more than sex. But for some reason, as he watched this tiny little woman trying to shoot a gun that was too big for her, he felt a clutching in his chest.

Lew 's eyes wandered back to the woman, and he knew he was obviously staring. S he was tiny- perhaps five feet or so, with red hair. She was obviously a novice shooter because her stance was unsteady and her sighting was terrible. He cringed as she jerked on the trigger and her arms jerked with the recoil. She was terrible. Lew wondered why she was shooting when she was so obviously not comfortable with guns. The Baretta .44 she was holding was full sized, too large for her hands, and her poor grip hurt her shot. Shit, Lew thought. What the hell was a female novice civilian doing with such a powerful gun? She should be shooting something tiny, like a .22. He watched her shoot again, grimacing at the poor follow through on each of her shots.

Jazz was looking at him questioningly, so Lew nodded for Jazz to go back to the team building and he walked across to where the woman was shooting. She had on HUGE ear muffs and her green eyes looked set with concentration as she got off a few more shots. She jerked hard with every shot, which messed up her aim. Lew stood silently as she stopped shooting for a minute and lowered the heavy gun, her arms obviously tired. He called out to her, but she didn't look up. Maybe those ear pads were too good. Another reason SEALS didn't wear hearing protection was that it dulled the sounds around you, and SEALS need to always be alert. He couldn't believe this woman was so clueless to her surroundings.

He walked up to her, deliberately making noise so that she would hear him. But she didn't hear him approach, and when he carefully touched her shoulder, she let out a squeal and jumped, the gun wobbling in her hands. Shit. He hadn't meant to scare her, which was why he'd made so much noise. Lew was afraid she might accidentally pull the trigger and shoot herself in the foot- or worse, so he gently but firmly took it out of her hand.

She turned quickly to face him and Lew saw a flash of fear in her green eyes. He shook himself out of her gaze and he was now standing, staring at her stupidly, his hand on her gun. She took off her hearing protection and took a step back, then slowly smiled at him. Lew wondered what she was so scared of.

"Um, sorry . I didn't mean to startle you, m'am" he heard himself say in a voice that sounded like someone else's. Lew took the gun from her hand and expertly released the magazine, then popped the slide, watching as the cartridge popped out. He put it on the table with the slide still open, as per the rules of the range. She gave him a look like she recognized him, but was trying to access mental files to come up with his name. He was wearing BDU pants and a black T-shirt, so it was obvious he was military.

Finally she gave up and smiled. " I'm sorry. I have seen you on base, but I don't think I ever got your name. I'm Shelly Anderson." She held out a small, well manicured hand, with short nails and a small emerald ring on it. Her right hand bore red welts and was bleeding slightly near the base of her thumb. It was common for novices to hold the gun with their thumb near the butt, so when the slide came back after the shot, the thumbs were cut. Lew stared stupidly down at her hand, lost at even the thought of touching her. He took her hand carefully and shook it gently, careful not to touch the sore area. Her skin was soft in his, but her hand was maybe half the size of his. Damn she was tiny. She couldn't have been more than 5'4", and it looked like a three inche heel on her boots. Lew was over six feet tall, and didn't generally like small women. He had to be so careful with small women, couldn't have sex that was even the slightest bit rough, so as not to hurt her. This woman had her 5"1 inch frame in tight jeans and a curve fitting black sweater. Her slender form filled the sweater nicely. Lew's eyes travelled instinctually donw to the deep V of the sweater. Just a hint of her breasts showed, a gold necklace falling inot the valley between them. She appeared to have average breasts, maybe smaller. Just enough to fit in his hands. "Stop it, you pig, " he said to himself. "Lew Koehl," he said. " I am with SEAL Team 16." She smiled again. " With them?" You are the commander aren't you? She remembered.

"I have seen you on base," she said. Oh, yeah, he'd seen her too, and he'd liked what he'd seen. Her hand was still in his, and Lew raised it to study the red welts. " You got hit by the slide, didn't you?", he asked, already knowing the answer. She looked down, surprised, as if she only now just realized that he held her hand. She didn't seem entirely comfortable with it, so he let her hand go." I only made that mistake once, " she admitted. Her complete lack of skill with a gun and the tiny cut brought out the alpha male protective instincts in him.

There was a moment of awkward silence. Lew's mind had turned to mush, he could barely even remember his name. Damn. He had never had a problem talking to a woman before. But suddenly he couldn't form a coherent thought. What the hell was the matter with him? He had been on ops where he was greatly outnumbered by the enemy, engaged in a deadly firefight, and it had never scared him. Why did this tiny woman scare him?

The huge man, Lew Koehl, stood looming over Shelley. She couldn't believe that he was even talking to her. She'd felt so out of place here. She had never really even held a gun before, and the .44 she was using hurt her arms. But she didn't have any choice. Since she had been assaulted four months ago hd made her skittish and scared. She needed to learn how to take care of herself. She had taken the basic handgun safety course, but that was mostly book work and a few shots from a small .22. She didn't like this big gun, but she had no choice but to learn to use it.

She felt self- conscious here at this range. She was the only woman in the place, and that alone had made her nervous. All of the other people practicing here were obviously experts, military or cops. But this was the only range she could find. She knew her form with the gun was terrible, and her shooting awkward. She knew she probably looked silly.

Shelley had flinched when the tall gorgeous man had touched her. She hadn't even heard him, which was scary. The man. Lew Koehl, had noticed her discomfort and had backed up a step. He had taken control of the situation, just as one would expect of a NAVY SEAL. And he wasn't just any SEAL, he was the commander of the whole team. What would a guy like that want with her? He was unbelievably handsome and his biceps were huge, with a trident tattoo and an anchor on either one. Lew had handled that massive gun like it was nothing, his movements expert and man looked invincible, like he could handle any situation, no matter what. Like nothing bad would ever happen when he was around. His chest looked massive, and his face was chiseled. But it was those eyes- those beautiful brown eyes that melted her.

He had touched her gently and dropped her hand at the slightest sign of her discomfort. He seemed like a nice guy, but then , so had Todd, who had attacked her. In fact, Shelley had never met a man she could trust, who would take care of her. She'd always had to take care of herself.

Lew looked into her green eyes and saw her thought reflected there. She was interested, but also wary, and even a bit scared of him. Why? Because he startled her? Because of his size? Her face was so expressive, every thought readable. It was refreshing to find a woman who was so open. So many women tried to manipulate him, played games. Lew hated games. When it came to women, he was straightforward.

She was just staring at him and had almost frozen, so Lew asked, " IS that your gun? Because its much too big for you?" She stopped staring at him and looked at the gun, a slight smile on her face. "No, it belonged to my father, I just got it from my little brother. I've never shot it before." No fucking shit, thought Lew. " I know it's a little too big for me, but I haven't had time to get a different one."

Lew smiled. There was a God. This was a perfect opportunity. He knew he should ask her out, but his mind had short circuited. She was definitely interested, but also scared. "Well, …I'm an expert about about if we get drinks tonight and talk about what kind of gun is right for you." Ok, that was pretty damn close to the most fucking lame invitation he had ever issued to a woman. He saw a flash of something, indecision? Flash across her face. Lew knew that she was seriously attracted to him, so why was she so hesitant? Then she smiled, and her face lit up. "I'd like that," she said. She handed him a card with her address on it. "See you at 8?" he said. She smiled. "See you then."

Lew found himself distracted the rest of the day, and he didn't like the feeling. He tried to cover it, but it was obvious that Jazz had noticed. Lew hoped none of the men had. He always lectured them about being alert, and well, he had to set an example. After the briefing, Jazz pulled him aside. " Sir, is there anything else that needs done." Lew shook his head and assembled his gear for the afternoon training session. " No, go get your gear together. " Jazz hesitated, " um, sir, may I speak freely?" Lew looked at him pointedly. He had worked hard to gain the trust and respect of his men since he had taken over the team from th popular Tom Paloetti. " Permission granted," he said formally. Jazz looked hesitant. " Well, sir, speaking as a friend, I noticed that you have been distracted the last few hours. Its none of my business, but does it have to do with the redhead at the range?"

Lew grimaced. " Is it that obvious?" he asked. " Probably not to the men, but I've gotten to know you pretty well, and I can tell." Lew glanced at him, as if trying to decide how much to tell him. He had had to learn quickly that SEAL teams were different than other branches of the NAVY. SEAL teams worked closely together, the men were teammates, and the relationship was one of the strongest bonds formed, even stronger than some marriages. The men on the team were sent into the most dangerous situations, where others wouldn't go. It was essential that the trust between the men be absolute. Sure, there was still a divide between officers and enlisted, but it was nowhere near that of the regular NAVY.

Lew sighed. " Hot, huh? " Lew said. " We're having drinks tonight. "

"She is beautiful," Jazz agreed. " I can see why you were distracted."

Lew felt himself hesitate again. " She's gorgeous, but there's something odd going on with her."

" Yeah, she was shooting a gun that was about 100x too big for her," Jazz smiled. "Yeah, she seemed a bit scared when I got close to her. And she is in such a big hurry to learn to shoot that she is using a gun she can't handle. I saw fear in her eyes. Why would that be?"

Lew saw Jazz hesitate for a minute, then he spoke. " Maybe she's afraid of something. Or someone."

"That's what I thought," Lew sighed. His alpha male testosterone had pumped through him and stirred his protective instincts. " It seems like she's afraid of someone. Like maybe someone is bothering her, or hurt her." Lew had to force himself to calm down. The thought of anyone hurting such a tiny woman, or ANY woman, pissed him off. He wanted to find out what the hell was going on so that he could fix it. Its what he did, fix things. Shelley had always had to take care of herself, hence the learning to shoot. Not that he could imagine her actually USING the gun. But he would protect her. He wished he could just order her to tell him the problem, like he did with the men. Shelley was scared , but she seemed to trust him enough to go out with him. Maybe he could get her to trust him enough to tell him what the problem was.

Lew pulled his truck up to the small house at the address on the card. He was dressed in civilian clothes, black BDU pants and a beige polo that strained against his arm had been distracted the rest of the day thinking about Shelley. A distracted CO was not a good thing. Especially when you were training with C4. Lew knew there was something bad going on with Shelley. Fear had been written all over her. She'd even been scared of him, at least at the beginning. Was someone threatening her? Hurting her? Lew intended to find out- tonight.


End file.
